Diplomatic Offside: How Konaković's Ignorance Nearly Halted the Srebrenica Genocide Resolution!?

By: Rasim Belko @rasimbelko

Elmedin Konaković's capacity to lead Bosnia and Herzegovina's diplomacy was questionable even before he, as one of the "Trojka" factions, uttered the statement “that he can be a minister in multiple positions in the Council of Ministers”.

Of course, he can, because that is a political decision of those who have the majority. But that he doesn't even know how to do the job he has is more than clear.

His under-capacity and lack of political knowledge for state affairs are evident in every move he makes. And the fact that diplomats around the world are left bewildered and surprised after Konaković's statements speaks volumes about his moves.

Elmedin Konaković tried to be the star of the process of adopting the Resolution on the Genocide in Srebrenica. Although he learned about this resolution about ten years after its initiation, he was among the first, if not the first, to go public and say: “a resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica soon.” This opened the door and gave Serbia's diplomacy and its partners the cards to undermine support for the Resolution.

This was Elmedin Konaković's first diplomatic offside in the process of adopting the Resolution. It is clear that his motive was solely political point-scoring and populist gains, because Konaković was not even a supporting actor in the preparation of the Resolution. More precisely, he had no role at all.

Then, about five days later, he made an even more dangerous diplomatic blunder. In an attempt to respond to Vučić with a new diplomatic-political spin and gain points, Elmedin Konaković endangered the entire process of adopting the Resolution.

Konaković, unprovoked and completely uninvited, announced some demands for war reparations, with which he would supposedly punish Vučić. And since Konaković doesn't understand diplomacy, he clearly didn't realize that he only helped Vučić and hindered the adoption of the Resolution.

After Konaković uttered the words “war reparations,” diplomatic alarms went off among responsible people in the administrations of Western world powers, as well as smaller countries around the globe.

Support for the Resolution came into question!

Konaković's premature move, when Bosnia and Herzegovina and the advocates for the adoption of the Resolution needed it least, did not stop the process of adopting the Resolution only thanks to parts of Western diplomacy. And the readiness of these diplomacies and their representatives to level the damage caused by Konaković's premature moves through dialogue with the actual actors in the Resolution's preparation.

Patria's sources involved in the entire process say that the adoption of the Resolution was seriously hanging by a thread, as key powers wavered, and even the possibility of halting the entire process was considered.

It was only fortunate that Konaković and the figureheads of the "Trojka" were not the key factor in that process, which allowed it to continue after the damage was mitigated, but the final result and the outcome of the vote are partly a byproduct of Konaković's foray into populist confrontation and the announcement of reparations.

And that is why the story of the Resolution as a victory for some kind of BiH diplomacy is a smokescreen for all those who knew the truth about the process of creating, sponsoring, and adopting the Resolution. Because, if it were up to that diplomacy, the Resolution would never have been initiated.

Elmedin Konaković, with his ignorance, almost prevented the whole world from remembering the victims of genocide, and then he “shoved” his way among the speakers in front of the UN building and talked about the significance of the Resolution that he had almost stopped with his ignorance!